Four in Audience Are Shot at a Club in SoHo

Four men were wounded early Thursday when a gunman opened fire during a performance at a crowded music club in Manhattan.

The shooting followed a dispute between groups around the stage, according to witnesses and the police.

The gunfire erupted around 12:10 a.m. before the headlining artist, Fat Trel, had begun performing at the club, S.O.B.’s, on the corner of Varick and Houston Streets in SoHo.

The four men, who were hit by at least six bullets, ranged in age from 26 to 33. They were all shot in the legs and were all expected to survive. The police said the 33-year-old, who was not identified, appeared to have been the intended target. He was shot three times.

One witness said the gunfire had been aimed at the crowd as an opening act was performing.

“The gunshots came from the stage, and it went into the crowd,” said Richardine Bartee, 27, a writer for a music and fashion Web site. She said at the time there were a few performers from Paterson, N.J., onstage, and they appeared to be heavily intoxicated.

“I didn’t see anyone with a gun but I did see the flashes of the light,” she added. “At first I didn’t know if it was part of the music.”

Amid the rush of people trying to get out of the club, the gunman fled in a car, the police said.

Witnesses told the police that a group of men may have been trying to get onto the stage and were rebuffed by others shortly before the shooting began.

Mr. Debo said the violence was unconnected to Fat Trel, a 23-year-old rapper from Washington who had come to the city for the performance on the occasion of the release of his new mix tape.

“It had nothing to do with us,” he said. “We don’t bring that sort of attention. Our fan base is mainly females.”

The police said the club, which features mainstream musical acts, was not known for violence.

Ms. Bartee posted videos from the club just after the shooting as fans still milled about, crunching on broken glass that littered the floor.

“I am not going to be able to sleep tonight after seeing all of the blood all over the place, and shoes and sneakers without people in them,” she wrote on Twitter early on Thursday.

Officers issued several summonses to the club and arrested one of its security guards on an outstanding warrant. The management of S.O.B.’s, also known as Sounds of Brazil, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

A version of this article appears in print on , Section A, Page 23 of the New York edition with the headline: Four in Audience Are Shot at a Club in SoHo. Order Reprints | Today’s Paper | Subscribe